Man Who Broke Into Jail Says Arrest Not Immediate

The man who climbed a fence to turn himself in at the Orange County Jail's 33rd Street complex earlier this week disputed jail officials' claims that they arrested him right away.

In a telephone interview from the jail Thursday, Maurice Washington said he sat outside a jail delivery entrance for at least 10 minutes after scaling the fence before guards arrested him.

''I could have wandered around, played checkers, or smoked reefer if that's what I wanted to do,'' said Washington, 22. ''There wasn't anybody there.''

Washington climbed a 12-foot-high fence topped with barbed wire around a food and laundry storage area about 3 a.m. Tuesday, jail officials said. He was wanted on a charge of selling cocaine.

Washington's account differs from the version given by jail director Terry James.

James said a guard monitoring closed-circuit cameras saw Washington climb the gate and alerted other guards. He said the man ''didn't have a chance to do anything because we acted right away.''

Washington said he saw a guard patrolling the area shortly before he scaled the fence, but when he climbed down, the yard was empty.

''I walked over about 20 feet to the delivery door and pressed a button to call inside,'' he said. ''A lady came on and I told her who I was and what I wanted, and she said, 'Wait a minute, we'll send somebody right out. We'll send somebody out as soon as we can.'

''Then I sat there for 10 minutes and meditated.''

Washington, 2779 L. B. McLeod Road, said he was wanted on a charge of selling cocaine to an undercover Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation agent. He also was wanted, under an alias of Maurice Williams, for taking about $100 in merchandise from a local department store.

He said he had been worried about being wanted and decided to turn himself in after his mother urged him to.

''I just decided I should get it over with,'' he said.

Washington said he climbed the fence instead of going through a lobby door ''because it was the first way I saw to get in.''

On Tuesday, several hours after Washington broke in, jail officials assigned an armed guard to patrol the perimeter of the jail at night. James said the change was made because of an incident Saturday, but he declined to explain what had happened.